A few years ago I fell in love with cycle touring! My friend Phil introduced me to it when we went to Florida and did a loop over a couple of weeks and I was hooked. Ten of us rode down the east coast of Florida to Key West and then ferried from there to Fort Myers and then rode back across the state.
After that Phil and I rode across Iowa in the country's biggest annual ride (RAGBRAI)..
A couple of years ago we joined 8 other riders in Hanoi and rode to Ho Chi Minh City a month long 2000 mile ride in the very beautiful and friendly country of Vietnam.
Two of the riders, Sam and Enrique from Corvallis, OR got ahold of me last summer and invited me on a ride in Puerto Rico to circumnavigate the island and do some volunteer work in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
So on February 3rd I flew to San Juan, P.R. to join Sam, Enrique and his wife Kay, and Mark and Kim - 2 other friends from Corvallis to circumnavigate P.R. and explore this amazing island.
Puerto Rico has been in the news lately because of everything from Hurricanes Maria and Irma and Political and Financial upheaval, and more recently the earthquakes. Our volunteer work centered around roof repairs in the northwest area of the island which we decided to put towards the end of our ride, so we flew into San Juan and headed west and over a period of 9 days rode most of the nearly 400 miles before arriving at Fajardo (just east of San Juan) where our volunteer work was centered.
Old San Juan
The Spanish held San Juan until the Spanish American War in 1898 by building the huge and impressive Castillo de San Cristobal which surrounds the old city at the end of the peninsula.
We planned a leisurely pace of about 40 miles a day which allowed us to enjoy the scenery and get to the daily destination with time to spare and enjoy the town and beaches near us. Puerto Rico is lovely with interior mountains with rivers and streams flowing to the ocean on all sides. Most areas we were in were humid and tropical with some areas more arid in the west and southwest. With temperatures in the mid to upper 80's it kept us moving to get a little breeze while riding.
So here is a little pictorial look at our ride around Puerto Rico and a look at the work we did at the end of our time in the saddle.
because their homes are destroyed or unstable from recent quakes
Buildings in Ponce damaged by recent earthquakes
……...and a refreshing dip in the pool
A trip to Yunque National Forest inland from Fajardo on the east coast:
Repairing roofs in Fajardo and Las Piedras
Thanks to my compatriots for a great ride and adventure!
Don
